Getting started in R

Use the first practical session to become familiar with the basic operations in R, how to access it, use the help and build up the knowledge of simple (and more complex) commands. However, do not treat the preliminaries as a rapid typing exercise; make sure that you understand each step before proceeding to the next. You will be using R extensively for the assessed practical, which accounts for 15% of your total mark. If you have not used R before, you should work through the following tasks carefully. If you have used R before, you may find these tasks useful revision and don’t forget the help functions within R. There are many resources on the Internet to help learn R. A fine book entitled The Art of R Programming by Norman Matloff is available electronically via the Library. Some of the useful sections of this book are,